title: Witch doctors and mental illness in mainland China: a preliminary study.
abstract: This study, the first report on witch doctors in the People's Republic of China, found that most witch doctors are poorly educated peasants who perform healing rituals as a part-time occupation. Despite being officially illegal, folk healing practices are flourishing in the countryside: 73.9% (N = 286 of 387) of psychiatric outpatients from rural areas and 70.5% (N = 43 of 61) of mentally ill persons identified in a rural community admitted to consulting witch doctors. These findings indicate an urgent need to systematically assess the beneficial and detrimental effects of these practices on China's health care system.
authors.affiliation: Shashi Psychiatric Hospital, Shashi, Hubei, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: S X
authors.initials: SX
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Phillips
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D006303:Health Services, Indigenous; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008519:Medicine, Traditional; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D012423:Rural Health